Consumer Bankers Association Case Study

Repositioning, Naming and Branding for a Leading Financial Trade Association

The Consumer Bankers Association has long been the leader in providing advanced executive education to upwardly mobile retail bankers. Yet the organization had growing concern that both the naming and positioning of their educational programs were misaligned.

HA Roth Consulting was asked to reassess the brand narrative, naming and graphic applications of their programs to make them more relevant and representative of the sophisticated interactive training they offered.

Background

The Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) is a trade association focused on serving today’s leaders in US retail banking. As part of their comprehensive service to bankers across the nation, the organization is committed to providing cutting edge educational opportunities for today’s retail bank executives and the next generation of banking leaders. This effort has for some years been driven by their immersive, multi-year “Graduate School of Retail Bank Management” and mid-management-directed “InBank Training” Program.

Unfortunately, these program names had, over time, become confused with competitive efforts and failed to accurately communicate the breadth, depth and uniquely comprehensive training provided by the organization.

To address this challenge, CBA asked HA Roth Consulting (HARC) to develop a strong, differentiated positioning for both the overall CBA education program and its two primary courses with clearly descriptive names and a brand voice that would ensure they continued to stand apart as the best training initiatives in their field.

Phase 1: Brand Positioning

Moving quickly, HARC conducted customer and stakeholder interviews over the course of several weeks, along with a comprehensive analysis of competitive programs within the industry. The outcome was a brand positioning and voice that resonated with the needs and perceptions of the organization’s existing members and potential “student” executives seeking to up their game in the fast-changing world of retail banking,

The CBA Advanced Education Brand Narrative

High-Touch, High-Tech, High-Potential
In a vibrant industry where the stakes are always high and the rules seem to change daily, it is essential for future leaders to fully understand and embrace the complex dynamics of modern consumer banking, from the latest technology to the most engaging marketing and customer service practices. This kind of knowledge isn’t instilled through how-to books or on-line courses. It requires collaborative, best-of-class students, a faculty with extensive, practical experience, and access to state-of-the-art learning tools.

CBA’s Advanced Education programs answer this call by providing your most promising managers the opportunity to immerse themselves in an intense, hands-on learning experience that forges sophisticated simulation technology with personal team dynamics. The result is pragmatic, real-time familiarity with the driving elements of successful consumer banking, inspired and coached by our eminent faculty of first-tier academics and practitioners.

This is higher education that puts advanced theory and best-case, real-world examples into practice. Students leave our programs informed, engaged and energized, ready to take on the toughest challenges. CBA’s Advanced Education graduates today will be your leader’s tomorrow.

PERSONAL ENGAGEMENT

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE

PROVEN RESULTS

Phase 2: Verbal Identity

The “Graduate School of Retail Bank Management,” was not only too long and hard to remember, it was also misleading and often confused with other organizations and graduate degrees. The answer: The CBA Executive Banking School

“InBank Training,” was also misaligned with the program itself and misleading. The actual program was conducted “on site” at participating member banks. Hence the new name became: CBA On-Site Banking

Phase 3: Visual Identity

HARC focused on reimagining the look and feel of each of the programs, which would also support and compliment the main brand identity system. The newly refreshed image of the banking schools has helped generate excitement and renewed engagement among all those involved with these dynamic programs.